18 killed in a shootout with South African police

By GERALD IMRAY
Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Eighteen suspects were killed in a shootout with South African police in a rural northern region on Friday. Police say their top officials, including the national commissioner of police, the deputy commissioner and the head of the elite Hawks unit, are on their way to the scene of the shootout in the Makhado municipality in the Limpopo province. A police spokesperson gave no more immediate information but local media reported the 18 killed were suspected of robbing armored vans carrying cash, a common and often violent crime in South Africa.